Bluehost Review 2026: Is It the Right Host for You?

Bluehost is officially recommended by WordPress, making it ideal for beginners and SMBs using the CMS. I was particularly impressed by Bluehost’s customer support options, specialized WordPress tools, and accessible pricing, though Bluehost lacks the long-term value of our top-rated web host, Hostinger.

To review Bluehost fairly, we put it head-to-head with its top competitors and assessed its capabilities across five core categories: performance, market analysis, pricing, features, and support.

If you’re short on time, the table below outlines the Bluehost need-to-knows:

Bluehost’s pricing starts at $3.99 per month for its Starter shared hosting plan. The cheapest introductory deals, across all hosting types, are for a 36-month term. But, if you’re not ready to commit to a long subscription, Bluehost’s hosting plans are also available for 12-month or monthly contracts instead.

You can see a full breakdown of starting prices and renewal fees for each hosting type below:

Bluehost also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee (which is pretty standard in the industry), meaning it’s fairly risk-free to get started with the web host.

Bluehost’s hosting plans offer built-in tools to support performance, scalability, and security, such as weekly malware scans, a free SSL certificate, and global data centers. In fact, based on our testing, Bluehost has the best hosting features in 2026.

And, given that Bluehost is WordPress’ recommended provider, all plans support CMS and include specialized features, such as free site migration and WordPress updates.

In addition to the storage and power limits, depending on the hosting type and plan, every Bluehost plan includes:

• cPanel
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Built-in security measures (which I’ll discuss more later)
• Free domain name for the 1st year
• Free SSL certificate
• Free professional email (one month trial)
• AI site creation tools
• Free CDN
• Yoast SEO

As you upgrade your plan or switch to a more powerful hosting type, you can unlock more websites, greater storage capacity, and improved security features.

If you choose Bluehost as your web host, you can expect free security measures as part of your plan, including weekly backups and SSL certificates. Bluehost keeps your site secure with the following features:

• Free SSL via Let’s Encrypt – this can be managed in your Bluehost Portal (you can also upgrade to a premium version, from $3.33 to $19.99 per month)
• Free malware scanning
• Web application firewall
• DDoS protection
• Weekly website backups

You’ll need to pay extra for these protections or upgrade to a higher-tier plan:

• Sitelock Essentials ($2.99/month or included from the Business plan) – for daily malware detection and secure monitoring
• Codeguard ($2.99/month) – to auto-save and restore your site’s data
• Domain privacy ($11.88/month or included from the Business plan)

Bluehost has an uptime guarantee of 99.99% and an advertised server response time of just 0.35s in the US. During our tests, we found Bluehost’s speed to be around 0.58s (with US servers) – this is slower than competitors, such as Hostinger (0.33s) and DreamHost (0.12s), but Bluehost’s performance remains dependable.

If your site experiences even a one-second delay in load time, your conversion rate can drop by 7%. For an online store earning $10,000 per month, a fast web host, like Bluehost, could save you $700 per month in lost sales.

Bluehost has the best customer support options of any web host, offering 24/7 help across a variety of channels:

• Phone
• Live chat
• Knowledge Base full of educational resources, guides, and FAQs
• WordPress Support Services – you can pay for additional design support for your WordPress site
• Social media – Facebook, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram

Other web hosts, like DreamHost, operate a callback system, so Bluehost’s 24/7 phone support can help you triage and solve problems instantly. For small businesses, this is critical when downtime costs can exceed $1,000 per hour.

Following our tests, Bluehost can’t be beat when it comes to built-in hosting features (such as security measures), customer support options, and WordPress integration.

However, the web host you choose will depend on your personal or business needs, so I’ve highlighted where other web hosts excel below:

• For cheaper prices: Bluehost has decent introductory rates, but IONOS’ $1 deal is great for initial savings, while Hostinger’s $1.99/month plan offers long-term value since you’re locked into the low rate for a four-year subscription
• For local businesses: DreamHost has the fastest US server response times, which is ideal if you’re only targeting a local customer base
• For convenience: GoDaddy is a great option for ease, since you can use its website builder, domain registrar, and hosting services from a single dashboard (but it’s not as responsive or affordable)
• For larger storage: While Bluehost is a great option for storage space, IONOS’ plans are incredibly scalable and eventually offer unlimited storage

Overall, Bluehost is a reliable and highly-powered web host. With its range of hosting types, built-in features, and support options, it’s a great choice for beginners, growing businesses, and advanced professionals.

That said, because of Bluehost’s relationship with WordPress and specialized tools, it’s our preferred hosting provider if you’ve built a website with WordPress.